r/LeBronJames23

Most talk about basketball legacy debates is a total lie that forces you to either completely hate an athlete or treat them like an untouchable deity. The reality of being a hoops fan who grew up during the definitive shift of the modern era is that you can hold massive baseline respect for a player's structural execution while maintaining your own stylistic preferences.

The guys had an incredibly honest conversation about this on the latest track, sparking right as LeBron officially entered free agency. On a human level, the man is an absolute blueprint. He does phenomenal business, he is a great dad, and he has navigated a lifetime of intense media scrutiny without a single character flaw. It actually sucks to say, but he simply checks every single box except for the one that makes a fan claim him as "their guy."

The highlight was throwing it all the way back to his high school junior year when he first hit the cover of Slam Magazine alongside Sebastian Telfair. Dawud was a definitive early adopter, screaming at the room that this kid from Akron was the next historical great while everyone else was completely skeptical of the high school hype. He was completely right from day one. Do you find yourself respecting LeBron’s unmatched longevity while choosing to cheer for other players, or are you all-in on his free agency landing spot?

I’ve been writing a series of essays on race, culture, sports, and media, and I wanted to take a moment to write something different.
I’ve criticized LeBron James over the years when I thought it was warranted. But I’ve also believed it’s important to recognize greatness when we see it. This essay is my reflection on his career, longevity, leadership, and the impact he’s had both on and off the court.
I’d love to hear what you think.

Read it here:

https://open.substack.com/pub/sanfordrichmond/p/thank-you-lebron-from-one-grateful?r=7fbh0u&utm\_campaign=post&utm\_medium=web

Rich Paul says everyone wants LeBron on their team:

“The other day I said 10-12 teams reached out, as of today, outside of one organization, maybe two. I’ve heard from every team in the entire league.”

These comments were made last season just a few months before LeBron at 41 years old, without Luka Doncic, led the Lakers past the Rockets in the playoffs.

I wanted to rewatch this amazing clip but I also noticed something never before. It seems the other player "boosts" Lebron up a lil higher than usual.

Did Lebron ever jump this high again with no boost? If so what game? I want to make a Bron highlight reel.

Imagine your LeBron after coming off what many would consider your most dominant individual playoff run and you take your talents to the Lakers of all teams who in the previous 5 seasons (2014-2018) had the worst cumulative record in the league and their franchise history. So they were not the same Lakers of yesteryear that was actually ran by an owner who wanted to win at all costs. You take your talents to this piece of shit nepo ownership with garbage general management and then dealing an even shittier scummier fanbase (rEaL LaKeR fAnS) that despised you and hate-watched you long before you even became a Laker. These “rEaL LaKeR fAnS” aka Kobetards would rather see the Celtics win than see you succeed.

Ok I won’t give anymore unhinged language but it felt like in retrospect you could’ve went to other teams in 2018 that were much more win now and deal with far less baggage. And I’ll say this. The move to the Lakers is not objectively as disastrous as it looks when you look at the whole landscape of the NBA during those 8 years. If you haven’t noticed we’ve seen 8 different teams win a championship in the last 8 years. And also LeBron in his Laker tenure made as many conference Finals apps as Jokic with the Nuggets, Giannis with the Bucks, and even SGA with the Thunder. It’s hard to even make a conference Finals in this era much less win it all.

lebron james is the one greatest athletes

Cavs has the higher chance now to bring back bron, because gsw ain't gonna pursue ad anymore, i wonder how this dude feels rn😂

Where we going Goat?